Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Week that Was

Monday I wove. Resolved not to think too much but to weave/make much, much more. I have no right to bit/moan/rant about making if I don't do the making.

Tuesday I went to the dentist, then to the Suter to look at old-male-angst drawings - so not for me, but I know the genre is popular. They were like huge pages from an art student's sketchbook. The drawing techniques were good, but the subject so not for me. Resolved not to go on about my old-female-angst too much. Made warp chains. Bought a locally printed tea towel with whisks on it and sent it to Clare. (Will explain on the Napier post.) I hope she cracks up when she opens the package.

Wednesday, made more warp chains. I've tons of immediate future projects in mind, but cannot weave much due to continuing hit/leg pain, which bothers me when I'm sitting in any chair/bench for long. However, I'm fine walking and standing up, so have managed to get almost a silly amount of housework done. Also carded and spun. Also colored in my doodles in my sketchbook. Resolved not to worry if I can't explain my process or thoughts in words, including posting about the Napier conference. Resolved not to worry if I crash and burn in the future because I am usually not this energetic.

Thursday, crashed and burned. Slept in, and then carded and spun some more. Then, went to Norman McLaren films with Rosie. Resolved not to card/spin in too concentrated a manner - sinuses shot. Resolved also to give some thoughts to green weaving and green textiles.

Friday, drawing resumed; it's the start of my third year and this term we're working on small drawings, A4 (roughly Letter). I go to drawing lessons to try to broaden my horizons and look at the big picture and draw outside the square and free myself. I feel I'm in a straight jacket. Plus, I can't do contour drawings. So I cheated. I want my money back.

Resolved to have no resolve, no goals, just doing what I think I like or am good at, a total change in my outlook. Which worked swimmingly. New members may think I am the odd/exotic one in the class; now old-friends just coax me on, and I love that aspect. I love my friends.

Spoke to Annabelle about "Woman who Run With Wolves"; she said skip parts I don't like and read only the parts I understand. I didn't like Annabelle when I started drawing; she overanalyzed/intellectualized everything loudly, and got in my way of trying to change my ways. She annoyed me for acting the way I might have at one time. She's stopped talking about a year ago, and, I hope, started enjoying drawing.

Checked out three children's clothes shops hunting for inexpensive T shirts to no avail, but did come home with a few dye practice material. Bought organic laundry soup - more on this later.
Wandered around the new, giant antique shop in the torrential rain. The place looks so expensive I hesitated to go in, but it turned out to be a fun emporium of everything. Also went to the Polytech library to check out two dye books and came out with seven.

Came home to a phone message from Dr Richard Nunns. (Will explain in the Napier post.) So the universe is smiling. We had fish and chips and a bottle of champagne for dinner.

Saturday, slept in and read "Women who Run with Wolves". With Annabelle's permission to skip pages I didn't like, I was able to pick up where I left off. I haven't skipped any pages, but stopped worrying about not understanding some parts. I keep thinking about how WWII really cut my parents off from "where they came from", and how I feel I'm from nowhere and everywhere at once. Perhaps this is a subject for a future post.

Washed my give skeins of handspun rather gingerly and enjoyed immensely whirling it; even that had to be "learned" and practiced. Dyed two more of my T shirts; three to be exact, but more of this later when the weather is better and I can take some photos.

Wondered why I enjoy spinning and dyeing in a very different way from weaving; wondered if I would ruin that enjoyment if I got more serious about dyeing. Resolved to continue investigating shibori dyeing, but I think my focus in the first instance is to make the woven cloth look good.

Amused by how lovingly I hold my handspun yarns and dyed T shirts, compared to how I inspect my woven cloths, but not worried about psychoanalyzing this right now.

Also deactivated my Twitter account. I felt an urgent need to simplify my electronic life.

Sunday, slept in again, and read "Women who Run with Wolves" a little bit. Ironed my dyed T shirts and caressed my still-damp hand-spun yarns.

Couldn't remember much about last week, and had to write this down. Amazed myself at how much I did get done in a week, disappointed at the things I haven't done staring and waiting for me to get going.

Resolving to work on P2P and tea cosy this week.

Sometimes thinking in words is so tiring.

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